In the business of processing pecan nuts of various types, the de-shelling or cracking of the nut shell has presented a continual problem for many years.
Further, with growth of population, the need for nut meat extraction system capable of high rates of production of nut meat has increased.
Further, not all nuts are cracked or hulled in the same manner and, therefore, apparatus applicable to one type of nut may be inappropriate or inefficient with respect to another type of nut.
Pecan nuts have been particularly challenging for purposes of cracking, hulling and separation of the nut meat from the nut shell. Pecans are grown principally in North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and Oklahoma. The principal varieties of pecans are known as the Caddo, Cape Fear, Desirable, Gloria Grande, Kiowa, Pawne, Stuart, and Sumner. Because of this considerable diversity in the variety of pecans, the provision of a cracking de-shelling apparatus equally suitable for processing and yielding a high rate of production of all such varieties of pecans has proven particularly difficult for the pecan industry. The primary participants in the pecan nut cracking business are the Pearce Brothers, Champion, Myers, and Savage Companies. None of these companies, however, are capable of de-shelling pecans, of whatever variety, at a rate which the present invention has proven to be capable of, namely, cracking in the range of 1200 to 1600 nuts per minute.
The prior art, known to the inventor, is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,328 (2003) to Quantz et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,714 (2003) to Warmack, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,115 (1991) to Andrews, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,115 (1984) to Volk, Sr. which, however, is particular to the hulling of pistachio nuts. Some related mechanisms have been suggested for the peeling of certain varieties of seeds such as sunflower seeds as is reflected in WIPO application WO/2008/024036 to Aboras.
None of the above structures or systems are however practical for the accomplishment of suitably efficient cracking or nut hulling of pecans, particularly without damage to the nut meat or mixing of the nut meat with the nut shells.
All of the above long felt limitations and needs of the prior art in the area of pecan cracking and hulling are addressed by the instant invention.